


A Necessary Evil

by mothprism (pastel_wendigo)



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Eventual Smut, F/M, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Other, Power Imbalance, Psychological Trauma, Reader-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-03-18 03:03:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13672917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastel_wendigo/pseuds/mothprism
Summary: As far as anyone was concerned, the labyrinth below Derry and the creature that lives there had always been a fact of life. As for the sacrifices given every 27 years to sate its hunger, that was just another necessary evil.





	1. Sanction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back i guess?? i got this idea out of nowhere and i liked it enough to run with it so let's see how this goes  
> sorry for the short chapter this one's more of a prologue than anything, the other ones are most likely gonna be way longer tho  
> hope you guys like this one!!  
> *note: changed the titles to allow for more freedom plus i didn't wanna clump like 2 or 3 different chapters into one big chapter that probably wouldn't flow as well

Long before the first creatures of the universe were a mere thought in life's mind, there was a turtle and his brother.

The Turtle was a kind, submissive entity, roaming through the spaces between the stars in a placid lull. The Spider was his very opposite, an arrogant and domineering trickster that ravaged every place that he happened to pass over. The Turtle was perfectly content with its passive life that largely consisted of floating about the empty universe. The Spider was not so easily satisfied. Such is the nature of chaotic things, and the Spider was its disciple.

The two beings floated about the macroverse, the Turtle leaving life in his wake and the Spider taking it away. Together, they were a duality of the natural order.

Long before the first civilizations of a small galaxy in a smaller planet had the chance to arise, the Turtle foresaw what would become of his brother. He saw how the Spider's insatiable gluttony would one day be both the downfall of the universe as they knew it, but his brother as well. Now, the Turtle wasn't one for interference, and he avoided conflict as often as he could. But there was something festering within the Spider that scared the Turtle, and he knew that if this was allowed to come into fruition, more than the Turtle's suspicions would become a victim to his brother. And so the Turtle acted.

Down

             down

                          down the Spider fell in a serried bundle of legs and lights past all the stars, all the nebulas, and all the planets from the edge of infinity. He fell across his knowable universe, relegated from his place in the stars to the prison of a small, lonely planet. And yet the Spider fell further still. With a heavy heart, the Turtle imprisoned his brother within the husk of a newborn planet.

The Spider slept.

Time passed differently here. What were once long, stable years back in his macroverse were now short, disparate years. In the Spider's keep, a year was a mere blink. A century, a single moment. So there was not much else to do but sleep, sleep and hunger.

And oh, was the Spider hungry.

The Spider hadn't known such hunger in the macroverse. But all the while, the Spider hadn't known something so delicious. But the Turtle could not allow himself to be burdened with the thought of the planet's inhabitants being picked off by his brother. Though he could not directly help them himself, he found it easier to make feeding all the more difficult for his unsatisfiable counterpart.

And so with everything in the Turtle's power, the being shaped the Spider's tomb, weaving the earth this way and that until not even the Spider himself could tell which way was up or down. Content with his work, the Turtle returned to his place in the macroverse and bid the inhabitants of the small, lonely planet good luck. But he left with a warning.

Though the Spider was trapped in a labyrinth of his creation, that did not mean that he couldn't escape in some form or another. The Spider remained a powerful being, one that was still able to influence the space around him with his frightful illusions. The people that lived above the creature's labyrinth thought nothing of it. As long as he remained entombed beneath the earth, all would be well.

That is until its entire population went missing overnight, a mystery that would likely remain unsolved to any other unsuspecting mind. But the people of Derry knew better, whether they actually knew it or not.

It did not take long for the small settlement to discover the Turtle's one, fatal flaw in the Spider's prison. That despite all of his power, the Spider still hungered. The fall had taken its toll on the Spider, and throughout the centuries the Spider spent the majority of its time in its prison in a deep rest. But when it would awaken, every 27 years, the Spider would hunger once more. And though it brought a deep shame to the creature, a compromise was made. 14 human sacrifices would be sent to his labyrinth the two years that he would roam his tomb. It was a burden each generation was forced to carry on, but for the safety of Derry - and to an extent, the planet itself - it was a sacrifice they all were willing to make.


	2. Indemnification

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok to start off i am So sorry that this chapter came way later than i planned, i ended up getting a really nasty cold a few days after i published the first chapter and im only barely feeling better  
> i wasn't able to work on chapter 2 until recently and even then it took me a while to get everything together and figure out how i wanted to write it  
> anyway, thank you guys sm for still sticking with me and being so patient it really keeps me going!!

You could do nothing but stare at your brother, jaw slightly limp, eyes desperately searching your parents' faces for something that wasn't there.

Out of the corner of your eye you could see your father's hand clench and un-clench into a fist. The daggers his stare bore through Bill caused even you to cringe. You didn't want to look at your mother, as you could faintly hear the spoon she clutched in her hand rattle against her plate. She hadn't looked up from the table since Bill finished his proposal. You couldn't blame her. You didn't think you'd ever get used to seeing your parents' vacant expressions. And your brother, your poor well-meaning brother, defiantly stared ahead at you, a hardened expression taking over his face.

Your jaw tensed, and the reality of what he just said hit you. You drew in a shaky breath and spoke.

"No..no?! Are you - he's not actually serious is he?"

It was largely instinct that made you look to your parents once more, hoping more than anything that they would protest. Instead, your mother sharply stood up from her chair, a choked whine escaping her lips before she could make a quick enough exit. You turned to look at your father, but he was already lifting himself from his seat at the table. You quickly shut up, not bothering to speak any further when you saw him point a calloused finger at your brother.

"We'll talk about this later."

Your father made a hurried retreat, if not going after your mother then holing himself up in his workroom. The room had already been silent before, but now it was deafening. Drowning. You hated it. You hated how every gap in conversation made your throat close up and your heart feel like stone. You looked up at your brother, his eyes quickly becoming red and glassy as he tried his best not to cry. You weren't sure how your brother managed to stay so strong, especially at a time like this, but it was admirable. Though, there were times when you wished he would show some restraint.

"Look, even if you are-"

"I am!"

Inhale. Exhale. " _When_  you're going, have you even considered..anything at all? You'll be there  _alone_. With practically nothing! This isn't something you can come back from, Bill."

Your brother shot up from the chair, roughly pushing himself away from the table.

"Bill-"

You trailed behind him up the stairs. Whenever you'd catch him in a mood you'd leave him to stew in his room. But not today, today was different. Though the forces that be seemed to want otherwise, as Bill slammed his door in your face before you had a chance to reach the top of the floor. You sighed.

Above the sound of your own breathing you could hear the muted sound of your mother crying downstairs. You hated how quickly a lump formed in your throat, but you couldn't be distracted. That came later. As softly as you could, you knocked on your brother's door.

There was no answer.

"Bill,  _listen_ ," you steadied yourself, clenching your trembling hands into fists. "I know what this is about, okay? I..I know it's been hard after," you could feel your throat closing, choking on nothing but memories of-

"..You know."

Your knees buckled, and you felt yourself collapse on the cold hardwood floor. You leaned against the wall, burying your head in your hands. Inhale. Exhale.

Like the majority of the time spent in your home, it was silent. A long, drawn-out silence that felt heavy with unspoken thoughts that you could feel closing in around you like a box. Even the soft sobbing from downstairs had stopped. If there was anything you hated more than the thick tension whenever the four of you were together in one room, it was the silence.

"But you don't have to do this. Not like this." Hesitantly, you knocked on the door, though it was barely a knock than it was a hard tap. Again, there was no answer.

Instead, the door slowly creaked open.

You stood up, shakily steadying yourself against the wall. Your brother sniffled, though you could tell he tried to hide it. But his puffy red eyes and pink nose was telling enough. Cautiously, you hugged him, wrapping your arms around his small shoulders and bringing him as close to yourself as he would allow. After a pause, he hugged back.

"I-I'm not g-guh-gonna be alone. Muh-My f-friends are cuh-coming too."

Well that wasn't any better, not like you hadn't expected it though.

"That -" you let him go, stepping inside his room and almost immediately pinching the bridge of your nose. "That's not what I meant."

"Wuh-W-We'll be prepared, Y/N w-we've been planning this for wuh-weeks-"

"I'm sure you have but that's," you took in a breath. "If this is about George-"

Bill didn't say anything as he walked past you. Anxiously, you rubbed the back of your neck as you turned to face the opposite direction. George - once the youngest in your family - hadn't been a topic of discussion for almost a year now. It felt as though you all had forgotten about him, or rather, chose to forget. You had always held the belief that forgetting tended to be easier than facing reality. Even when forgetting was painful and hard and ridden with denial.

In reality you never forgot. For the past year or so, little Georgie had been there like a ghost, always in the back of your mind. Haunting every thought, crawling into every scrap of guilt that managed to worm its way into your heart. It was awful. It was awful and he hadn't deserved it.

You didn't want to dwell on it, you  _had_  been dwelling on it for too long for your tastes. You did your best to clear your head, turning back to face your now-youngest brother.

"Ih-I-It is,i-if that's what yuh-you wanted to n-know."

You leaned against the wall behind you, running your hand through your hair and letting out a quiet, exasperated sigh. Bill sat on his bed, staring out the window and into the cloudy sky outside.

"B-But it's more than that! A-aren't you tired of all of th-this sh-shh-shit?! I-it's been going on for yuh-years and no one's qwuh-questioned it?"

"Bill it's - this is something far beyond either of our control okay _?_  And you're expecting  _what_? To kill a  _god_?"

"If that's wuh-w-what it takes."

For a 13 year old child, he looked so sure of himself. Bill had always been a confident kid. Quiet, but confident. He was like a natural-born leader, and it was showed so much. You knew that that was due in part to what happened. How your brother was forced by the universe's hand to grow up in a way no child should. And in a way you were glad. During the longest year of your life after George's death, and especially after your parents sequestered themselves away in the confines of their own personal spaces, you were the one that looked after your brother. Or maybe he looked after you, even though you had since left your teens and entered your twenties in the brief gap of time without George.

"Well if you're sure,  _really_  sure," Bill's bed creaked as you sat next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"Then I'm coming with you."

~~~

She meant well. She really did. And that just made what he had to say all the more hard on his conscience.

He expected her to scream, to cry, to beg for him to take back what he said and go back to his room. That he must be delusional, there's no other possibility. That she'll take him to the doctor the following morning for a check-up. Just to be sure.

"He's frail," his mother would say. "His lungs are breathless."

Eddie was not afraid of his mother. He resented her sure, but he was never afraid of her. He  _was_  afraid of everything that would come after that. He knew that they were as prepared as they were gonna get. But Eddie always expected - and prepared - for the worst. And if the worst  _did_  happen, if he  _did_  die, then at least he'd die with his friends.

He  _would_  admit that he'd rather skip this whole part, the part where he would tell his mother to her face that he was going to walk willingly into It's labyrinth with six of his friends when the sun came up. But it was for her own good -  _his_  own good. If he could just get her to see that, see reason, then maybe she wouldn't be mad. Maybe she wouldn't scream and cry and beg for him to take back what he said. Maybe there would be no trip to the family physician for the fifth check-up that month.

When Eddie took a deep breath he winced at the hint of a wheeze in his throat, and yet, he walked into his mother's room.

~~~

Stan trusts his friends.

Maybe a little too much, but he trusts them. Though, despite having rehearsed his proposal to willingly give himself over to It's labyrinth with them, he can't quite bring himself to push those words out to his parents. They're just words, how silly of you to be afraid of words. But deep in Stan's heart he knew that he wasn't afraid of the contents of his prepared speech, but rather the implications of it. The second that he confessed to his father of what he was planning to do the next morning made his whole situation all too real. It wasn't some inane plan he and a bunch of friends came up with one sunny afternoon when none of them could find anything better to do. It wasn't some dream.

Of course he was afraid of the labyrinth. Who wasn't? But if there was anything that Stan was more afraid of it was his father. Or, more specifically, what he would say to him. The picture he had of his father berating him for his foolishness was so clear it almost made him sick. Come to think of it, he  _did_  feel sick.

There was a tremble in his voice. And his normally steady eyes blinked too much - wouldn't bring themselves to focus. He hated that.

Stan shouldn't trust his friends this much. But in the back of his mind he knew he trusted and loved them all dearly. And maybe that was scarier than anything he was about to do.

~~~

She didn't know what she was expecting.

Her father on his knees, pleading for her to stay with tears in his eyes and a wobble in his voice? A man seething with a boiling rage, barely restrained fists shaking at his sides as he shouted his mind at her face?

No. Thankfully, for her, it was neither.

Beverly decided against telling her father anything of her friends' plans for the next day. Derry's Big Day. They had been planning this for months beforehand and if her father had even a fleeting thought of what was going on then it was all over. Besides, Beverly had grown to be good at keeping quiet, and that's exactly what she had done.

That night, over a dinner that she enjoyed even less than she thought was possible, Beverly kept her mouth shut despite the thrashing voice in the back of her mind that wanted to scream her lungs out. She wanted more than anything to tell someone about what she would do that following morning. But that was an option that just wasn't available to her. Her father, thankfully, was none the wiser. 

That's how Beverly found herself sneaking out of her house in the dead of night with nothing but the clothes on her back.

This wasn't the first time she sneaked through her house at an ungodly hour, bare feet slipping by unheard on a cold floor. Like keeping quiet, it was just another thing under Beverly's belt that she learned in the time she spent alive.

Once she reached the entrance to her home, she paused, bending down to slip on her shoes. She wasn't quite sure where she would go once she left, but in the back of her mind she wasn't sure if she even wanted to return. It was a silly thought. Of course she would return! Just not here. Never here.

~~~

Mike's luck had already run out, so he didn't see how agreeing to join his friend's little quest would ruin it even further. Of course, he consoled his parents with his plan.

"We're gonna kill it, dad. Just you wait. We'll kill it, and no more kids are gonna go through this anymore."

He hated seeing his mother cry - that is, when she cried - but that just solidified his resolve. Mike never considered himself as the brave one, but that didn't mean he couldn't be. Then again, that didn't mean he wasn't scared out of his mind.

It was hard not to be when he was faced with his parents on either side of the table, both of them trying to conceal their grief. Mike knew that his parents loved him, and they made no effort to hide it. There were times where it embarrassed him -  _deeply_  embarrassed him - but at a time like this, Mike deeply appreciated it. It never really crossed his mind to consider himself lucky in that regard, but looking back on everything that led to this, he didn't regret a thing.

In a way, it was almost ironic.

Mike remembered how obsessed he used to be with learning about the labyrinth. How he would ask his father to retell stories of those that went in and never came out, how  his morbid curiosity grew only stronger when he learned of what would happen if the sacrifices ever stopped. Of all those stories, Mike loved the one about his father the best, or rather the one about his father's courageous friend that just might have saved his life. How, just 27 years prior, a close friend of his father's took his place in the labyrinth at the price of ensured oblivion. For some reason that he could never explain that story had always resonated with him. Even his parents never understood why he was so fascinated with them at such a young age, but they thought it better to tell him at an early enough age that he would be used to it. Now, it sort of made sense. Sort of.

But that didn't mean Mike was at all compliant with his fate, just the opposite actually. If Mike was being sent to labyrinth, then by the gods was he gonna give them a fight.

~~~

Ben never considered himself the studious type, but somehow he always managed to find something to study in Derry's library. He just hadn't expected any of his knowledge to come in handy. This soon, at least.

It started with the legends his mother told him as a child. With the benefit of hindsight, Ben understood that those stories were meant to be something of a boogeyman. But in Derry, nothing was ever  _just_  a story. To him, he found it better to categorize it as such. Easier to deal with, he thought.

That was what most likely started his deep fascination with the labyrinth. It was like a fairy tale come to life, an impossible reality that was a paradox in and of itself. But to Derry, it was as normal as the sun and the moon. And just as present.

Ben didn't know why he was so drawn to the history of Derry, or more specifically the Spider's labyrinth that it held beneath it. It was as though he heard it call out to him the first time he learned of it. Which had been so long ago that it felt like he was born to go there. And that was a frightening thought of course, but Ben's curiosity had always gotten the best of him.

For years he had scoured the library (which - in reality - wasn't all that impressive, but in Ben's eyes it was like coming across a treasure trove), eating up whatever information he could gather about the grim bits of Derry's history. From the legends of its founding to the tales of the creature that slumbered below its streets, Ben couldn't get enough.

Which had most likely been his downfall in the first place.

Once his fresh crop of friends discovered his fascination with the labyrinth, he knew there was no turning back. There was just no convincing those six. With maybe the exception of Mike or Stan. And maybe Eddie. But as far as anyone was concerned, what Bill decided was law, and none of the seven questioned the "law".

Ben wasn't particularly concerned with revealing his friends' big plan to his mother. There was nothing she would have done anyway. Normally, this would've upset him, it  _had_  upset him in the past, but now wasn't the time to be upset.

"You know I've always wanted to map it out," he drawled. "Who knows, we could actually do it!"

His mother only hummed in response.

~~~

It was almost as though they were expecting it, but Richie shouldn't have been as surprised as he found himself feeling.

The only hint of shock on their faces was when he told them he was a volunteer rather than being forcibly chosen by the labyrinth's acolytes.

Maybe he was just in denial as to how his parents felt about him, how he could tell that they consciously made an effort to humor him despite their obvious lack of understanding. In the past they had tried to understand Richie and all his mannerisms. They really did. But now, it all seemed so  _forced_ , so..fake. It was almost as though they were  _relieved_. Like this was some bad prank that he was trying to pull on them. But when he ensured them of how serious he was (or was trying to be), he saw something minute change in their expressions. It could have been something like disappointment, but he wasn't sure. Maybe that was just him being paranoid, but either way Richie wasn't planning on mentioning it to any of his friends. He hardly wanted to think about it himself.

It was scary.

Richie was never one to talk about things that scared him, never saw the point in it. He just wanted life to be easy and fun and if it wasn't that way then he would make it that way. That could've been considered a dangerous amount of hubris, but there wasn't any other way Richie would've wanted to live.

He never considered himself as easily scared - never wanted to, anyway. It was obvious from even a stranger's point of view that Richie wasn't exactly the bravest child in Derry, but with his reputation no one really bothered enough to question it. A child that was all bark and no bite wasn't worth the trouble, it seemed. But that didn't matter to him. His friends new who he really was, and that was enough.


	3. Procession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF sorry for the overdue update once again, life has just gotten in the way a bit and i ended up having little free time (and consequently, motivation) for the past couple weeks but here it is !! wish i could say updates are gonna be regular but they never had been uh whoops  
> ALSO!! content warning for unreality and slight lapse in memory toward the end of this chapter  
> thanks for reading guys!!

Derry wasn't normally so misty, but with the heavy bout of rain from the previous night, the humid air clustered together like a thick blanket and congealed in everyone's lungs.

You had hoped that the sky would've cleared by the time the morning came - that you could be granted one last glance at sunlight - but only a layer of gray clouds ghosting across the hint of a sun greeted your face. It was as if the universe was mocking you, that it couldn't be bothered to dole out the most banal of favors. You chuffed, making a noise so minute that not even the acolyte attached to your shoulder acknowledged you. Then again, nothing they did was ever apparent to you or anyone else.

If you were being honest, the Spider's acolytes scared you.

You had no idea who they were (or where they would disappear to after each cycle saw itself to completion) but you always assumed that they were hand picked by the Spider itself at birth, destined to serve the beast that controlled their own town. You never saw them speak to anyone besides other acolytes or the people they chose, always hiding beneath their crimson robes and whispering what you thought could only be thoughts of the Spider itself to each other.

You didn't like how the acolyte's hands dug into your shoulder, the way their robe rubbed against your body with every gust of wind. They were almost like an automaton with the way they ferried the eight of you past the rapidly growing crowd of people that raved and sobbed as you walked through them like a parted sea.

By the time the early dawn had faded into a muted morning, a crowd had gathered around the labyrinth's entrance, a procession not unlike that of a funeral's - which you guessed was not too dissimilar to your current situation. Even through the dense crowd, like some looming beast, you could see the entrance to the labyrinth. Just the thought of it made a little sliver of dread creep into your heart. But seeing yourself rapidly approach what could very well be your annihilation made your entire body want to freeze.

You wouldn't get the chance to when you felt the acolyte at your side pull you to a stop, grabbing your shoulders with a firm gentleness that was more than a little awkward and spinning you around to face the horde that had gathered before the labyrinth. You felt your eyes widen at the sight of it all, and you couldn't help but feel just a little overwhelmed. You took in a deep breath, squeezing your brother's hand in your own, and faced the crowd.

Only the family of those that would be sent to the labyrinth along with the morbidly curious would ever arrive at the tunnel's entrance, but this time there was an oddly abundant amount of Derry's residents at the site. You could've guessed why. Volunteers weren't  _abnormal_  by any means, but the fact that an entire group of children simultaneously chose to hand themselves over to the labyrinth's sole occupier was definitely curious enough to rouse attention. That, and the fact that word of said children's endeavors had somehow managed to spread within the span of a day.

Not like that was at all surprising to you. For the past week it seemed that Derry was buzzing with talk of who would be sent to the labyrinth for the last dregs of this interminable cycle. People had been suspecting your brother and his friends for a while now. You tried not to listen to their rumors, tried to tell yourself that the chance the acolytes would choose kids like them were slim to none. But nothing is ever set in stone in Derry, you guessed. You, however, were new. Even the acolytes were surprised by your inclusion (in their own reserved way), but they didn't seem to protest.

Your eyes strained to scan the crowd, passing over the heads of people either feigning worry or generously showing their enthusiasm. It was only slightly sickening to see, given that the rest of the people that you would be sent down with were mere children with no means of defending themselves against a creature such as the Spider, so you kept your face as blank as stone. But it wasn't the faces of those seeking tragedy that you were looking for. You were looking for your parents, or rather, hoping that they would be there if only you just gave the crowd one last review. And you knew your brother was looking for them too. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Bill look up at you briefly, audibly gulping as his grip on your hand tightened, and faced the crowd as well. He was being so brave, and you were so proud of him.

You weren't sure why you expected -  _wanted_  - to see your parents among the crowd of bodies. You knew it wouldn't have been best for them to see not one, but two of their remaining children walk into the labyrinth of their own volition. That thought made it alright somewhat, but that still didn't ease the ache in your chest that made you feel like a child crying for their parents. You shut your eyes, slowly taking in a breath, and relaxed the tension you felt gathering in your body.

Out of your peripheral vision you could see your brother and his friends lined up in the square beside you. That morning you were exhausted in every sense of the word. You didn't think it was possible to lose as much sleep in the night as you did, but evidently you weren't the only one. The kids at your side - bless their hearts - had the looks of someone clearly trying to fake composure. You had noticed this when you saw them each awkwardly carry the one item the acolytes allowed to bring into the labyrinth in simple knapsacks. Your brother had informed you that weeks prior, they had each agreed on who would bring what, though you doubted any of it would make much of a difference. What could a couple kids and one young adult do with something like a slingshot and a box of food from one kid's kitchen? Not much, you decided.

You turned to the side, looking at the rest of the kids that were assembled behind you. They looked just as shaken, the smallest of the bunch - Eddie, you remembered - was nervously looking to the others around him for something. What it was, you could only guess. The girl - you think they referred to her as Bev - held a steely gaze, looking at nothing in particular. You made an attempt at shutting out the cacophony of the mob, staring ahead so that their bodies shifted into a blurred, moving mass. It helped only a little, especially given that out of nowhere a man burst from the crowd.

It startled you out of your self-induced trance and you could only watch the scene unfold like a thing behind a window. A few acolytes broke from their huddle to restrain him like a rabid dog, and although the man looked thin and bony, it took the combined strength of four acolytes to keep him still. You guessed that the man was the father of someone in Bill's entourage, and looking over at each of the kids, you think you found whose. The girl with the poker face that could rival a statue's looked down, or anywhere other than the man being held back from the empty space in front of the labyrinth. She was shaking, but you could tell that she was making an effort to keep it under control. It was when the man began shouting something inaudible beyond the raucous noise of the mob that Bev turned around, wiping away the bud of a tear from her eye with her thumb. The boy that stood next to her - a nice-looking kid with a round, friendly face who you  _think_  was named Ben - put a hand on her back (or rather, hovered above it), asking her if she was okay. 'Don't pay attention to him' he said. She nodded, smiling at him while crossing her arms and turning back around.

You leaned over your brother and the boy next to him, gently placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. She glanced at you, still so obviously startled but trying her best to keep a straight face. You gave her a quick nod, silently comforting her that whatever it was that disturbed her, it couldn't get to her now. Bev reciprocated the nod, the ghost of a reassuring smile tugging at one side of her mouth.

Of course, the girl's business with that admittedly frightening man was none of your own, but you couldn't help but feel at least a little protective over these kids. In fact, you were sure that the source of your nervousness came from the fact that the seven children that stood beside you were your responsibility now, and that you sure as hell weren't ready for any of this. But you had to be ready, you would make yourself ready.

 

~~~

 

The entrance to the labyrinth was nothing like you would've expected it to be.

As a child, you had always pictured it to be some grand thing, with imposing gates and twisting halls of stone like the ones in fairy tales you barely remember reading. But in reality the labyrinth's threshold was more of a natural monolith, if you could even call it that. You could tell that long ago someone had tried (and failed) to make something of the structure. Rotting planks of wood and pieces of plaster that were falling apart with age clung to the entrance's surrounding area like the barnacles you would find on rocks you collected at the beach. Instead of the grandiose labyrinthine mansions from the stories buried in Derry's old library, what stood before you and your entourage was the hollowed shell of a shack-like structure. You would think that the failed attempt at hiding the labyrinth would take away from its foreboding nature, but instead you found that it only added to it. No matter how much humanity tried to brush the powers that be under the proverbial rug, said powers always managed to find a way. It all was still admittedly creepy, but not as imposing as you had always thought it to be. And that thought alone comforted you enough.

You clung to that feeling when the acolyte at your side grabbed onto your shoulder once again. The voice at the back of your head wanted so badly for you to shrug it off and run into the crowd, effectively becoming lost from the responsibility you placed upon yourself. But you couldn't, not now. Even though you felt a nagging fear slowly but surely consume you, you wouldn't forgive yourself if you abandoned the kids at your side - your  _brother_. So you let the acolyte guide you closer to the labyrinth's entrance.

The shadowed faces of the acolytes were almost comical now, given the gravity of the situation contrasted by their tacky red robes against the gray, muddy colors around you.

"Everything you need is inside." they said as they handed you a glass lantern with a small, flickering flame held inside it.

The acolyte's voice made you shudder. You don't ever remember hearing any of them speak, but the way the one at your side did made you abnormally uneasy. You couldn't really find the words to describe it, but somehow it reminded you of hearing the wind. You hoped they didn't have to talk to you anymore.

You were the first to enter.

There was no fanfare - but then again there never was. The acolyte at your side nudged your shoulder forward, slowly coercing you through the crumbling foundation that led to the pitch dark entrance. Lantern in hand, you gazed into the abyss. Staring down into the tunnel was almost suffocating, and you wanted so desperately to look away but something about it called to you. Like it was a lure. But you tore your gaze away, and turned to look behind you.

Bill was being guided, same as you, but something about his gaze struck you as disparate from his usual sheepish demeanor. You never considered your brother as reserved, quiet yes, but not as clamorous as his friends. But he looked different now. You were so scared for him, not only of what could -  _would_  - happen once he entered the labyrinth, but of what it had made him become. In your eyes he was still a child, the same boy that couldn't finish a sentence without stuttering, but here before your eyes was someone new.

 _Not new_ , you thought.  _Changed_.

Your brother was forced to grow up by a power that he didn't understand. Not even you understood it, not entirely. As soon as Bill was within arms reach, you held him. Tearing yourself away from the acolyte's touch you pulled him into a hug. You felt him hesitate, but slowly he wrapped his arms around you.

You looked up to see the other kids being rounded into the narrow hall, first the boy with glasses, then the smallest of the bunch - Eddie - who you could see had been holding back tears with a face admirably scrunched up in frustration. Each being given an identical lantern as though it were a ball and chain. Letting go of your brother, you looked above the boy and into the sliver of crowd that was still visible. If you strained your ears, you could hear the hint of a woman somehow managing to shriek above the crowd. The noise that came babbling from her mouth seemed like a meaningless string of words with the child's name sprinkled throughout, but from the way that Eddie was handling it you knew it was much more than a strange, frantic woman. You stepped backward, the rotting wood beneath you creaking, and placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

"You okay?"

You wished you had the words, or rather the mindset, to properly convey your concern, but the kid seemed to understand what you wanted to say just by looking up at you. He nodded sluggishly, almost in a guilty manner, and mumbled a "yeah" that just barely carried over the noise outside.

"She'll be fine, if that's what you're worried about." you said softly.

"Oh, I know. S'more me I'm worried about to be honest."

You allowed yourself a dry chuckle, ruffling Eddie's hair and moving back to your space in front of the kids, alongside your brother.

"We'll be fine, trust me."

Eddie didn't respond, but in the dim light you could see the impression of a smile.

By the time you managed to turn around to count the heads of everyone in the room once more, you saw the acolytes move to the entrance of the tunnel, almost completely blocking out what little light that managed to cut through the clouds. All seven in your company followed your gaze to the entrance, that was already in the process of being closed by a pair of the red-robed..men? Beings? You were never sure of the acolyte's gender - or if they were even human at all - and you weren't about to ask.

You could almost feel your group's morale drop for a split second, especially how they all instinctively backed away closer to Bill, your de facto leader, for some sort of comfort. And you even found yourself gripping his shoulders out of raw nerves. As the acolytes exited the hall one by one, you gulped. This was it.

The weathered slab of a door to the labyrinth slowly shut and you swore that the eight of you held your breath. Just as the door was closing, you could almost make out the hint of a sunbeam cutting its way through the blanket of clouds.

 

~~~

 

Standing in the heavy darkness you felt a shift in the atmosphere. And the shift was tangible. You felt as though you were choking, that the darkness would swallow you whole at any given moment, and for a minute you couldn't will yourself to move, let alone breathe. You closed your eyes, feeling cool beads of sweat beginning to form on your brow. Somewhere behind you you heard the hiccup of a kid on the verge of tears, though you couldn't pinpoint who it was coming from. You heard - or rather felt - a brief scuffle somewhere behind you, and the muffled groan of annoyance.

"Can you shut up, that thing'll hear us!"

"OH so we're blaming me, huh? Is that what we're gonna do?"

"Eddie, Rich,  _sh_."

You had no idea how Bill managed to quiet people so quickly, but you silently thanked him in your head. Infighting was the last thing any of you needed, especially when not even a minute had passed within the hall.

You held out your hand to touch the cool wall next to you.

Even with the lantern, you could barely make out the shape of your hand against the ongoing void ahead of you. You never knew someplace could be so dark. And the walls around you were already becoming cool and slightly damp from humidity, the ground beneath you shifting from dilapidated wood to a strange loamy-stone compound. It was rapidly feeling less like the rotting carcass of a building that it seemed to be on the outside and more like the wall of a cave. Like if something had dug out this tunnel. Or was buried in it.

That thought caused a shiver to course through your body, raising the hair on your arms. You shook it off, refusing to think about the inevitable this early.

"Well, let's get moving. Don't wanna stay in one place too long, right?" you forced the words to exit your mouth, trying to hide the nervousness in your voice. You dreaded having to walk down the path that you could barely see five feet ahead of yourself. You were never a big fan of the dark, and your brother was well aware of this.

You turned around, somewhere behind you you heard the sound of shuffling, immediately followed by a bag being opened.

"Stupid thing's stuck -" Eddie sighed in frustration, placing his lantern on the floor of the tunnel.

"Here, lemme-" Mike responded, helping the boy pull out something from his bag.

There was more shuffling, and a sharp inhale that you assumed was from the former's inhaler, along with a muffled 'thanks'. You stared down at your feet for a minute, waiting in thick silence for the boy to finish his routine. Thankfully, it only took another minute for him to return what looked like a first aid kit to his bag.

You followed your brother along with the rest of the kids behind you, footsteps echoing through the hall like ghosts. Walking further into the black the suffocating feeling you had upon entering had only worsened, and a cold sweat had broken out along your arms. You thought it was some extreme form of vertigo, although the ground had been largely even and fairly enclosed thus far. Now that you thought about it, you hadn't recalled ever encountering any twists or turns in the first place. For a second you caught yourself in a sort of mild panic, a rapid pacing in your heart that you fought to control. You hadn't wanted this place to get to your mind so quickly, but you found that fortifying your senses was harder than it seemed.

It was then that the harsh whisper of a boy cut through the deafening silence of the tunnel, causing you to twitch in mild shock.

"How far we been walking? My feet are already killing me and we haven't even seen -"

"Beep beep." Beverly sharply responded, exasperation emanating from her voice.

And then it was silent once more, for how long you couldn't really tell, especially with the seemingly endless tunnel. You ran your hands along the wall again, a wave of nausea taking over for a split second. You didn't have time to think about it when you heard your brother whistle.

You stopped, and after feeling someone bump into your back, everyone else stopped too. Bill was looking down at something, and peering over his shoulder, you caught a glimpse at what he was so focused on. The floor of the tunnel gradually sloped downward, and from what the dim light of the lantern could show, eventually broke off into jagged step-like formations. They seemed naturally formed, but nothing in the labyrinth was by any means natural. Bill looked behind himself and at you, his gaze then following down the line toward his friends. A look of fierce determination overshadowed the fear you could feel coming off him as he took a step down the "staircase". You found yourself stopping him though, your hand clasping around his shoulder and tugging him backward slightly. He looked at you almost incredulously, but somewhere inside him he was almost thankful.

"I'll go, just stay here until I tell you to come down." you said softly.

Lantern in hand, you peered down the crooked steps, another rush of dizzying nausea fogging your mind. Looking at it now, you were unsure why anyone called it a labyrinth. It felt more like a fissure in the earth, a descending tower of naturally formed stairs that were worn away by the creature that was embedded in its center. You tried to imagine - in all of its splendor - the maker of this labyrinth, but you could not.

You tilted your head, motioning for the kids to follow as you took your first steps down the pathway downward. To steady yourself, you continued to press your hand against the wall, taking each step cautiously as though it could crumble at any moment. You didn't want to mention the fuzzy feeling you had gotten upon entering the labyrinth to any of them - least of all your brother. You didn't want to cause any worry, especially not this early into your trek. You could only hope that it would relieve itself soon.

 

~~~

 

You didn't know how long you had been walking, but your legs had already begun screaming for relief. You could only imagine what the rest of the kids felt. You briefly looked back, quickly giving them all a look-over just in case.

You wish you hadn't. When you looked back down that feeling came back again, this time almost causing you to stumble forward. You reached out for the wall, as it had unwillingly become some sort of anchor. But as soon as you felt your hand splayed across what you thought was the wall, you drew it back with a shriek. The walls felt clammy, moist and fleshy like the inside of a mouth. And as you stared down past the lantern and into the staircase, the jagged steps almost seemed like the teeth of an infinite beast. You almost fell backward, lurching away from the strange environment you had found yourself transported to. You could feel the panic you had felt earlier begin to consume you, and you felt like your lungs were shrinking by the second. Everything was muffled, the children's confused cries, your brother beside you taking the lantern from your hand and shaking your shoulders.

Before you could scream again, you felt hands on your arm holding you steady, but the hands felt too rough, too piercing. You felt the hands guide you, gently placing you on the floor and against the wall. Though, that could've only been your imagination. You weren't all that sure anymore.

It felt like being in a dream - or rather, a nightmare - the memory of your outburst hazy. You didn't remember when the feeling stopped, or being given back your lantern, or even when you continued walking hand in hand with your brother. But you were beyond thankful that it was over. You could tell that it had deeply shaken the kids, a faint hint of concern and distrust that flashed across their eyes when they looked at you. You couldn't blame them.

Though, maybe it was for the best. Maybe this was the labyrinth's way of grounding its inhabitants, like a prison guard keeping its inmates in check. A part of you - a large part - hoped that the kids wouldn't have to experience whatever you had just felt. You don't think you would've wished it on anyone.

At some point during your descent you came across a large pocket of cool air. You had no idea what was causing it, but it was a welcome relief from the stifling humidity from earlier. The group took a minute to rest, sitting on the bumpy step-like structures beneath you and saying nothing. Not like there was anything to say in the first place. You closed your eyes, leaning your head against the wall of the tunnel and trying to ignore the odd  _thump-thump_  noise that you guessed was the sound of movement somewhere below. It was almost lulling, but you willed yourself awake, and continued on your journey deeper than you thought you could go.

You had no way of telling time in the labyrinth, but you weren't sure if you wanted to know anyway. You  _did_  want to know how far this godforsaken staircase could possibly take you. Just as you were about to turn around to check on the kids once again, you stopped, transfixed by the ground you stood on.

Abruptly, the cramped tunnel came to an end, extending further out on a flat line. The stairs ceased, but the ground still held that ridged pattern that the stairs did. And thankfully, the ceiling was gradually becoming much higher than that of the tunnel's. You laughed dryly, spinning around to alert the kids behind you.

"Hey! Guys, look the stairs -"

But you stopped yourself, voice catching in your throat. You could feel your legs buckle from underneath you. Almost dropping the lantern in your hand, you leaned against the wall for support. Your breath quickened, and you could feel the darkness at the edge of your eyes encapsulate your vision for a brief moment.

The kids - your  _brother_  - were gone.


	4. Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> might as well start calling me the queen of updating at ridiculously unscheduled hours but that's besides the point  
> here's where it finally starts getting weird and i spent the majority of my time mia trying to perfect how i wanted to write this so uhh hope yall enjoy

"Bill?! BILL?!"

Throwing caution to the wind, you cried out for your brother and his friends as you raced back up the stairs. You tripped over your own feet, calling out the names of any of the kids that you could remember. After a dozen or more steps, you stopped yourself, near collapsing on the stone stairs after you found no sign of the kids. There was no way they could've gone back up the whole flight of stairs without you hearing them. And it was damn impossible for them to have slipped past you and down into the tunnels. They were just gone. You set your lantern down, bringing your shaking hands to your face as you could feel your pulse pounding against your skin with every intake of breath. It was so hard to breathe, you almost didn't want to. You didn't want to feel the thick unclean air of the labyrinth enter your lungs. But you had to.

Reminding yourself to breathe, inhaling and exhaling in the deafening silence of the staircase, you leaned against the wall behind you. You tried to muffle the sobs that were quickly fading into the silence of the tunnel. Your mind was already breaking through that panicked haze - realizing that if none of the kids could have heard you, then something else will. You were too scared to move for what felt like an hour but could only have been a couple minutes. Time was a funny thing down here. It almost felt a little foolish to keep track of something so obsolete, but what else was there to do?

On trembling legs, you picked yourself up, taking the lantern in your hand and continuing down the way you came.

You felt defeated.

You didn't have a clue as to how the kids vanished into thin air, but at this point you had stopped looking for an answer. You stood at the edge of the last step, staring out into the pitch dark void ahead of you. Your heart thundered throughout your body, and you felt a little dizzy just staring out into it. It was like that darkness swallowed anything that got near it, which wasn't too far from the truth. You swallowed hard. You were either going to find them again, or not at all.

You didn't know how long you had been jogging through those tunnels, swiveling past sharp turns and oddly rounded corners. The lantern in your hand barely allowed for more than five feet of visibility but you could've cared less. You didn't know how much time you -  _the kids_  - had, and although you couldn't feel the passage of time here, you felt it's pressure ticking in the back of your mind. Every now and then you would go against your rational judgement and yell out one of their name, still running through the endless halls of the labyrinth. It felt futile, and never before in your life had you felt more useless, but it was the most you could do.

Though, after what felt like a while, you were beginning to wonder if you were wandering in circles. This labyrinth couldn't possibly be endless, could it? There was an entrance, an exit, and a center. There had to be. There could only be so many corners you could turn. But turning  _that_  corner, you couldn't have prepared yourself for what you were about to see.

You weren't even able to comprehend what was before you at first. 

It was like a spider, but it was also very unlike a spider. The thing was constantly shifting. It's form morphed before your eyes, gaining and losing mass like a wave of flesh and carapace ebbing at reality. It almost hurt to watch, your eyes never completely able to focus on one thing, though a part of you doubted that whatever this was was one exact thing. The soft, orange glow that emanated from its body forced you to squint, eyes unable to fully adjust to the shifting darkness. You set your waning lantern on the ground next to you, quickly ducking behind that corner and dropping to the floor as quietly as you could. As it lumbered through one of the labyrinth's halls, scraping against the stone, you only found it harder to breathe.

You knew what this was. What It was. There was only one thing in this labyrinth that it could've been. It was nothing like you expected, but at the same time it was everything you had expected.

You wanted to duck back behind that corner, wanted to run and hide from this impossible being. But you knew that it was far too late for that. Instead, you watched. Like an accident, It was so awful you couldn't look away. It was almost as if it was drawing you to it. It was like staring into someone's eyes and being so captivated you wouldn't dare break your gaze. It took you a moment to realize that that was exactly what It was doing.

The Spider was so many things all at once.

It was a man. A woman. A child. A tangle of lights held together by nothing but gravity. It was changing so fast that in hindsight you felt as though It was mocking your weak attempt at comprehending it. You tried steadying yourself against the wall of the tunnel, gasping so silently that not even you heard your sudden intake of breath. Though that didn't help in the slightest. The cold, damp stone of the tunnel only felt constricting, trapping you with It.

It made no sound as it traveled across the floor of the tunnel, gradually coming closer to you. You hugged the corner of that wall, failing to cease hyperventilating as It began to fill your vision. Mouth hanging limply open, you didn't think you ever felt more wracked with fear in your life. You're so scared and so paralyzed by this chthonic creature, that you couldn't find it in yourself to run. Everything in your body was screaming at you to fight back, or at the very least try to escape but you couldn't. You stood still and watched as It scraped a limb across your arm - testing you for a reaction.

You wanted to wretch, to cry and scream and fight the thing standing all around you. But you can't so much as breathe around It. So you do the one thing you can find it in yourself to do. You close your eyes.

You still felt the weight of its limb on your skin, the hair on your arm prickling with goosebumps. This close, you could even feel the being begin to settle on a form. The amorphous flesh of one of its limbs compacting itself into what you could've sworn was a hand. You opened one of your eyes just a crack, looking down at where Its limb was. Expecting the barely stable form you had previously seen It take, instead you are greeted with an ivory white hand. A human hand, cloaked in what felt like a satin glove. It scratched against your skin, and with every passing second you could feel Its "nails" dig deeper into your sensitive flesh. You choked on a sob.

"Wwwuhuhuhat are  _you_  afraid ooof?"

Both of your eyes were wide in horror.

It was almost strange hearing a voice other than your own. Though you admit that the sound you heard was barely passable as a voice. You weren't sure if It even had the ability to speak. But by the sound of it, you felt it safe to say that It didn't practice often. It sounded like a gross mockery of a human voice, like an animal hearing human speech and twisting it into its own vocalizations. But it wasn't just the sound of It talking that made you want to scream.

It was the sight of a grotesque humanoid standing before you in place of that  _creature_. It was almost....clownlike? Again, like something far from human pretending to be something earthly and failing miserably at capturing the vision. What with it's bulbous head and sunken eyes. One of them was trained on you, unblinking, while the other had wandered off to stare down the hall it came from. In its mouth, hiding behind plump red lips, were two crooked buckteeth that dripped a viscous drool. The only sound managing to escape It now was a raspy, hollow breathing that could have possibly been a laugh. God you wanted to scream.

But It didn't give you the chance to. Instead, with a shrieking cackle you were thrown against the wall of the tunnel, slamming your back into the hard stone. You blacked out almost on impact, and for a minute you had thought you phased through the wall and into an endless expanse. But you didn't. Instead, you lay on the ground next your flickering lantern and - to your immense relief - seven terrified children.

You scrambled to get up, stumbling over your feet and landing back on the ground with a thud. A silent scream left your lips, as your back was screaming with pain. You could barely sit up straight, but you forced yourself to manage. You had to when you were being bombarded with suffocating hugs from seven kids all at once.

You looked down to see your brother with his arms wrapped around you like a coil, head buried right under your chin. You smiled - weakly - and wrapped your arms around him too, resting your cheek on the top of his head. Bill said nothing, but you felt the tears in his eyes fall onto your shirt, and the sharp intake of breaths with every muffled cry.

You sat there for a moment, and eventually looked up at the rest of the kids. You motioned with your arm, and almost immediately two of them sprung at your side. Eddie was at your right shoulder, with Richie on your left. Ben draped himself over Eddie and Bill while Mike did the same on Richie's side. Stan sheepishly walked up and connected the gap between Ben and Mike, but you could tell that he had been on the verge of crying. In fact, you could feel his quieted sobs along with Eddie's hiccuping breaths.

You looked up at Beverly, who stood a fair distance away from the pile. She was covered head to toe in blood - and for a second you were scared that something had happened to her, but quickly realized that it wasn't hers.

"I don't..wanna....you know." she said, sheepishly staring at the wall next to her while attempting to wipe the blood from her arms.

You thought for a moment. "Does it really matter?"

You saw a hint of a smile tug at her mouth, and she quickly jogged behind you, wrapping her arms around Eddie and Richie and resting her head on your shoulder.

The eight of you sat in silence for who knows how long on the floor of that tunnel. Maybe it was until the sounds of crying faded into the tunnel's void. Maybe it was until one of your arms got tired. But for that moment, you relished in the brief moment of peace that It allowed you.

After the hug pile dissipated, you checked each of the kids. You were never the parental type, but you couldn't help yourself now. You had to make sure each of these kids were alright, or you'd never forgive yourself. You weren't keeping track of how many times you apologized for disappearing, or how many times they each individually forgave you. But you were sure that it was an obnoxiously high amount.

Eventually the eight of you had walked a distance from where you were reunited, deciding to settle in the crook of one of the rounded corners. Your lanterns surrounding the outside of your circle and illuminating its center. You felt far from safe, but it was something at least. You drew in a shaky breath, looking at the compact dirt beneath your feet.

"I tried, Bill, I really did. But there was  _no one_  I was  _alone_ -"

"It's ff-fine, I ss-s-swear."

You gave your brother a half-smile, your sad eyes giving away your true emotion. You didn't want to speak any more, and you wanted to provoke any of them even less, but you couldn't help but think back to what you saw while separated. How could you not? You gulped, head lolling back and resting against the tunnel.

"When I was gone, when I was looking for you...I saw? something?" Most of the kids' eyes were all on you. Bill and Stan just stared blankly at nothing

Beverly, the child who you knew what arguably the bravest of the bunch was the first to speak up.

"I saw something too." this time, Bill looked up at her. Suddenly, she had almost a sheepish tone to her voice, but it was no less hardened than before.

"It wasn't a - a  _person_  or anything like that. I...I thought I heard voices but when I tried to check there was just," now she was just staring down her trembling fists balled at her side.

"There was just..all this  _blood_." she brought up a hand to quickly wipe away a tear that escaped her eye, bringing her knees up to her chest and looking away from the others.

Eddie was the next to speak. "I-I saw a man, a leper. He was so-" he never really managed to finish that thought, immediately gagging and bringing out an inhaler from his bag and taking a sharp intake of breath.

After that, one by one each of the kids explained what they saw. Ben, a headless mummy wrapped in rotting bandages around equally rotting flesh. Mike, a flurry of charred bodies that still smelled like fire and an endless expanse of hands reaching out for him. Richie, it was a "fuckin' ugly clown". You couldn't believe it when half the kids stifled a laugh - albeit nervous. For a moment your heart almost stopped. You wanted to interject, but his description of the clown was so much different than the thing you saw. His had a shiny, bald head crowned in wild red hair and an ironically brightly colored suit. Yours was the very opposite of that, so you stayed quiet.

Stan confirmed that he had seen something, but he refused to recount what it was exactly. You didn't want to coax it out of him, as you could tell that Stan was particularly more sensitive than the rest of the crowd. You respected that. Bill was last, and he seemed just as reluctant to share as Stan was. But was brave. Of course he was.

"I-I..I saw," you got a bad feeling as soon as he started getting choked up. "I ss-saw G-Georgie."

You shut your eyes, turning your head to the side and gulping. You placed your hand on his shoulder, keeping it there for a good minute. Before you could take it off, Bill turned to you.

"W-wh-what did you ss-s-see?"

"What"

"Y-You said you s-s-saw something, wh-what was it?"

"I..I don't know."

Your mind was blank. How long you couldn't tell, but you couldn't leave them out of the dark for so long. You had to tell them. In that moment, it was as though all of your thoughts had spilled from your mouth in a panicked jumble. Like some final discharge from the hypnotized state that had overtaken you while with..It. What you hoped had come out as articulated as the rest instead sounded like a madman's ramble.

"It was like...a spider? But it was so  _much_. So much more than just a spider. It was so many things I - I couldn't keep up with it."

You felt Bill grab your hand. You held your free hand up in front of you.

"It..It grabbed me."

The air around the makeshift camp was silent, but not uneasy. It was terrified.

"B-But then it  _changed_ , it never stayed as a spider  _fuck_  it wasn't even a spider to begin with-" You wrapped your free arm around your other, a feeble attempt at getting you to stop shivering.

"It turned into a man. But there was something..wrong about him, something-"

"A clown." Eddie spoke from across the circle.

"Yeah, I..I saw him too. I-It wasn't like Richie's clown it was.." he nervously licked his lips. "You know."

You looked around you, and from the looks of their faces, you knew instantly that they all had seen the same frightening imitation of a clown that you did. You almost felt the temperature around you drop to sub-zero, the hairs on your arms standing straight up.

For the rest of that night, almost no one got sleep.

You had all agreed to sleep in shifts, and every hour or so move to a different location. But sleeping was proving to be a little easier said than done. Instead, you all had exchanged idea on what the beast you all had seen was. If it shared a form, then surely it had the god-like Spider from Derry myth. And if the legends were as reliable as the stars above your heads, then It had already enacted its plan. Or at least, the first phase in it. You thanked Ben and Mike, not knowing what you would've done without their deep knowledge on the town's literal dark underbelly.

But there was something that bothered you, a deep and nagging  _wrongness_  that you couldn't shake.

If the legends were to be taken as fact, then it was fact that It would take the shape of the victim's closest fear. And it had made perfect sense for the rest of the children. You vaguely remembered a handful of their fears back before you had entered the labyrinth. But that wasn't the thing that was bothering you.

You weren't afraid of spiders.

**Author's Note:**

> guess who's back i guess?? i got this idea out of nowhere and i liked it enough to run with it so let's see how this goes  
> sorry for the short chapter this one's more of a prologue than anything, the other ones are most likely gonna be way longer tho  
> hope you guys like this one!!  
> *note: changed the titles to allow for more freedom plus i didn't wanna clump like 2 or 3 different chapters into one big chapter that probably wouldn't flow as well


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